


Rosemary and Penguins

by squirrelmort



Series: Host AU [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Tattoo, gouallout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 16:29:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3657246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squirrelmort/pseuds/squirrelmort
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kou decides she wants a tattoo for her birthday. </p><p>Written for GouAllOut prompt: tattoo. Technically a prequel to Both Is Good, but also stands on its own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rosemary and Penguins

Kou and Nagisa were sitting on her couch, watching some stupid crime show or other. She didn't really care—Nagisa had picked it. With Rin off at college and her mom working, she ended up spending most of her free time with him, especially when Chigusa was busy, which happened a lot. She rested her head on his shoulder, while his arm wrapped around her, absently stroking her side. Bored, her hand followed its familiar path to Nagisa's right hip. Her fingers lifted his shirt to find skin before gently tracing the penguin there.

“Stop it!” Nagisa giggled, slapping her hand away. “You know I'm ticklish there.”

“Then why did you get a tattoo there?”

“Because I thought it looked cute. I didn't expect people to touch it.”

Kou rolled her eyes. “As if you wouldn't touch my tattoo if I had one.”

“Well, you don't have one, so I guess we'll never know.”

“Then maybe I should get one,” she shrugged. She had actually been considering it for a while, but she still had almost a week until she turned 18.

“Ohmygod, you should!” Nagisa grinned, completely ignoring that his program. “What do you want? You should get Iwatobi-chan. Or a rose. Or a shark. No, I know, a matching penguin!”

“I'm not getting a matching tattoo.”

“Aw, Gou-chan, why not?”

Kou just shook her head. She had learned that there was no point in arguing with Nagisa, whether it was about her name or his ideas; the more she fought, the more adamant he became. The best choice was just to ignore him and move on. “I was thinking rosemary.”

Nagisa frowned in confusion. “Isn't that a food?” he asked.

“It's a plant. An herb.”

“Why would you want that?”

“It means remembrance.” Kou lowered her eyes, watching her fingers lightly glide over Nagisa's penguin. She could sense him stiffen, trying not to laugh at her touch. She remembered when he first got it, right after his birthday. The skin was red and swollen, and he winced every time something brushed it. “Ophelia gives some to Laertes after their father dies.”

“Oh.”

“I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't...”

“Do it!” Nagisa grabbed her chin, forcing her face up until she met his eyes.

“Rin would kill me if I did.”

“No, he wouldn't.”

“He would kill you for letting me.”

Nagisa nodded. “He might.” He leaned in, placing a kiss on her nose. “But I've never let Rin stop me before.”

“True,” Kou replied with a smile.

“Let's go do it on your birthday.”

“Agreed.” She wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling him in for a real kiss. The plus side to Chigusa rarely being available? No one to interrupt their make out sessions.

………

Kou spent the next week doodling rosemary flowers. Chigusa helped her finalize her design, while Nagisa gave her the number of the place that did his penguin. Finally, Friday, her birthday, arrived. Her appointment was right after school. Her mom knew she was doing it, and Rin was coming home for the weekend but wouldn’t arrive until after dinner, so he couldn’t stop her. But she was still nervous. She knew she wanted it on her foot—she had decided that a year ago. And then she had read that was especially painful.

“Come on, Gou-chan, we don’t want to be late!” Nagisa stood at the door with his bag. He was going with her for moral support. Chigusa had to stay behind for club activities, but would see her later. She grabbed her stuff and followed him. They took the train to the tattoo shop, talking about this and that--what flavor cake Kou was getting, when Rin would arrive, whether or not Nagisa should get his belly button pierced, an upcoming test.

Kou’s nerves got the best of her when they got off the train. She finally asked the question she had been avoiding. “How much is this going to hurt?”

“Probably a lot.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t. It was a silly idea anyway.” Before Kou could leave, Nagisa grabbed her arm.

“I’m kidding. Yes, it’ll hurt, but you’ll be fine.”

“Nobody’s going to understand it.”

“It doesn’t matter if anyone understands it, KouKou Puff. It’s your tattoo.”

Kou took a deep breath. “Thanks, Nagisa.”

“No problem, Gou-chan. Let’s go,” Nagisa said, grabbing her arm and dragging her along. Kou sighed. So much for a nice moment.

Kou quickly checked in at the tattoo shop, signed a form, and was led to a room, with Nagisa tagging along. She had already emailed the artist about what she wanted, so he had the design ready. She took off her shoe and sock as she sat in the chair. Everything was running smoothly until the artist touched the sole of her foot to clean the top, and she flinched.

“Are you ok?”

“Sorry. I’m a bit ticklish there,” she explained.

“Gou-chan, you never told me you were ticklish!” Nagisa grinned.

“Shut up!” She poked him in the side, causing a giggle. She clenched her jaw and focused on not moving as the artist finished prepping her foot. She was sure Nagisa would find a way to use this new knowledge to his advantage, but she didn’t want to think about that for now. For now she was focusing on breathing and blocking out the pain. She distracted herself by going through flashcard with Nagisa.

When everything was done and the wound was bandaged she slipped on the ballet flats she had packed and she and Nagisa headed back to the station to catch the train to her place to watch a movie before going out to dinner with her mom and Chigusa. It was a fun, albeit painful, birthday.

**Author's Note:**

> I had some trouble trying to figure out the legal age to get a tattoo in Japan, so I'm sorry if 18 year olds can't do it. 
> 
> Also, this is an au where Rei doesn't meet everyone until college. Otherwise he probably would've shown up.


End file.
